Leave A Comment

X-POSITION: Tom Taylor Teases a Big Team-Up in “All-New Wolverine”

The all-new Wolverine is carving out a place for herself in the Marvel Universe. Laura Kinney, the mutant formerly known as X-23, has encountered plenty of action and surprises in her first few issues as Wolverine, and she’s even brushed up against a few of Marvel’s classic heroes. The mystery of her “sisters” might be coming to an action-packed conclusion, but there’s a little thing called “Civil War II” looming on the horizon — and you bet Wolverine’s going to be involved.

This week in X-POSITION, “All-New Wolverine” writer Tom Taylor joins us and answers all of your questions about everything from the odds of a run-in with Old Man Logan to the role Gabby will play moving forward.

CBR News: Welcome back to X-POSITION, Tom! Let’s kick things off with a question from Some Old Guy about “All-New Wolverine’s” complicated hero.

Other writers seem to forget Laura’s empathy, or intelligence, calculating patience, and ability to plan, and instead simply focus on her rage.Â You do a great job of mixing all of these things together via her interaction with the clones.Â How difficult is it to balance her programmed training, her desire to be a protector, and her Logan-like-rage that boils just underneath (the nod to this by Wasp was a nice touch last issue)? How important do you think it is to show off (or remind people of?) Laura’s incredible cunning when you write for her?

Laura is an incredibly complex character. She’s been through a lot over the years and different creative teams have told her stories at different stages of her life. For us, it’s important to build on all of that and work out who she is now by bringing all of those components together — which is exactly what Laura herself is doing.

As for her rage versus her cunning, Laura is a lot more calculating than Logan. It’s who she is. She was practically trained from birth to look at any situation and find a solution, to infiltrate anywhere. She may have Logan’s DNA but she has her own head.

Next up, Ambaryerno wants to know if we’ll ever see more of Laura’s civilian life.

In issue #2 we got to see Laura’s apartment, which was an awesome little bit of foundation for a sense of normalcy in her life and a connection to the world outside super-heroics. Is there any chance we might see more of her just getting to be a teenager trying to have a normal life on the side? A girls’ night out with Jubilee, Mercury, Armor, and Pixie? Family dinners with Daken and Old Man Logan? Even a date night with Warren (or maybe should that relationship *fingers crossed* come to an end, even Hellion), without it turning into a world-threatening crisis?

I’m a big fan of “day-in-the-life” superhero stories. I will admit to a bit of lurking on the CBR forums and I was happy to see people talking about this, especially as I’d already planned more moments like this. I’m happy to say that, in issue #7, we’re getting our Squirrel Girl/Wolverine team up — this starts in the apartment and certainly isn’t a world-threatening crisis. It’s more of small personal story. It’s Marcio Takara’s first issue as artist and it’s shaping up brilliantly.
â€¨As for Angel, he hasn’t had a lot to do with our story so far, mainly because Laura hasn’t had time for him in the midst of everything that’s been happening (sorry Warren — yes I’m apologizing to fictitious characters). But they’re getting more time together over on “All-New X-Men.”

The sisters are a great way to represent both how much Laura has grown and what she used to be like before she overcame her programming. Since we already know that at least Gabby will survive thanks to the covers, what kind of relationship will they develop?

I’m glad you like the sisters and the different aspects of Laura they represent. The way David Lopez drew these guys really nailed so much for us too. We will miss you, David! I don’t want to speak too much to Gabby and Laura as this is a large part of our next few issues. But, trust me, myself, and editors Mark Paniccia and Christina Harrington all love Gabby and we hope she can hang around. I think it will become obvious the kind of relationship we’re building here very soon.

And healed1337 wants to know if any future stories will be inspired by the past.

Without going into specifics, will we see any of Laura’s dangling plot threads from her first solo series or her “X-Force” days return?

I’m not sure about her “X-Force” days but there are certainly things from her early adventures that I would love to know answers to, particularly about her Aunty and her Cousin. If I have time and I have to come up with these answers myself, then so be it. Of course, there’s also the woman I think of as “Laura’s Sabretooth,” Kimura.

Since Wolverine’s in two books, Beaubier wants to know if this requires any coordination.

We’re seeing two very different versions of Laura in “All-New X-Men” and “All-New Wolverine.” Since you and Dennis Hopeless are sharing the character, how much plotting and discussion do you do together regarding her character arc and growth? How much tie-in can we expect between the two series?

For now, Wolverine’s book is self-contained on purpose. We really want to give Laura a chance to grow into her new role and own the Wolverine mantle. So, we won’t be tying into “All-New X-Men” very soon. Dennis and I have talked about working closer but I totally dropped the ball over a stupid-busy period. Hopefully, we can work together more in the future.

There are a couple of developments that xhx23x wants to know more about.

Are there plans to see how she got her costume and made the choice to become Wolverine?

â€¨There have been a few plans but immediate crises keep needing all of Laura’s attention. We haven’t had a chance to slow down yet. We will slow down soon.â€¨

Kamose1234 has a couple of questions about “All-New Wolverine’s” previous issues and the ones coming up.

So far in “All-New Wolverine,” we’ve seen guest stars that Laura’s predecessor interacted with like Dr. Strange and Wasp, but none of them have been traditional allies or enemies of Logan’s. Has this been intentional on your part to give Laura a different supporting cast and or will this change in future issues?

â€¨I’ve read a few reviews which suggested Doctor Strange was suggested by Marvel but, honestly, this was all me. I wanted to use Doctor Strange because he was, first and foremost, a doctor. The story needed one, and it couldn’t be anyone that Laura knew well as Alchemax would be watching them. I also wanted it to be a wise and established character who could give Laura a nod of approval from the old-guard. Lastly, I wanted there to be little history between them as I’m trying to make this as new-reader friendly as possible. I didn’t want our new readers to come into a scene where they feel like they’re missing lots of subtext between two characters who have known each other for years. I want Laura’s reactions to be our own. I want our readers to feel new experiences with her.

As for Wasp, again, this is what I wanted to do with the story. Originally the story was going to be Ant-Man but he was out of action a little in his own book, and when Tom Brevoort suggested Wasp instead, I thought it was genius.

In issue #5 following Zelda’s death, she urged her sisters to teach their enemies a lesson, to which Laura agreed. But does this mean we’ll see a more violent Wolverine going forward? It seemed Laura had, like Logan before he died, tried to be less ferocious. But given that issue #6 is titled “Carnage,” will the tone of your book be going in a different direction?

You’ll just have to see how Laura reacts in the next issue. She’s pretty damn angry.

RLAAMJR. has a quick question about another Wolverine.

Will Laura be encountering Old Man Logan somehow?

See below.

A-ha! Then let’s get to Knives’ question about what’s coming up in the book.

I have nothing negative to say about this comic, it achieved all the expectations that I had so far and want to give congratulations for the great job. Could give us some spoilers about future cameos from other heroes, especially those related to Logan or Laura?

There is a little thing called “Civil War II” coming very soon. This will involve many heroes and will definitely touch Laura. I’m not going to lie. Laura will be encountering Old Man Logan in the lead up to “Civil War II.” Will they get on? Will they tear each other to shreds? You’ll have to wait to see.

Thanks to Tom Taylor for taking on this week’s questions!

Next week, “Uncanny X-Men” writer Cullen Bunn returns to X-POSITION to answer your questions! Have a question for Cullen? Go ahead and send ’em in via e-mail with the subject line “X-Position”. But get ’em in quickly, because the deadline’s Friday. Make it happen!